NH vs Maine – Chess Border Battle

Yesterday (Sat, Sept 10) I competed in my second NH vs Maine Team Chess Challenge, also known as the “Border Battle,” now an annual event, at the Portsmouth library. The time control was G/60 with five-second increment.

My opponent was the slightly higher-rated, Joshua Quint, now back in his home state of Maine from Vegas where he was 2010 Vice-Champ of the Clark County Chess Club. We each took a full point.

In the first game, a couple inaccuracies with White in the opening landed me in an unpleasant defensive crouch from which I was only too happy to burst forth with reckless abandon. It almost paid off too. Unfortunately, when the time was right, I failed to play the winning shot I’d planned some moves earlier.

Why I got distracted, I’m still not sure, probably the clock had something to do with it as time trouble was fast approaching. Nevertheless, this game is now extremely painful to play over and to think what could have been (i.e., a stunning reversal).